Gift Giving by the poor :-)

Does anyone know if there are projects to help poor kids give gifts to their parents and families? I imagine this would involve money and a shopping trip :-). I did this a few years ago in California, very informally with a few friends, and I haven't heard anything like it here.

It might be tough finding programs that are set up specifically for this purpose. But don't get discouraged by that.

If you contact local organizations that work with young people and explain what you're doing, they'd proably be happy to help. Either the local Boys & Girls Club or the Salvation Army would be good places to start. Both of these should have some sort of a gifts-for-kids program already, and it shouldn't take much convincing to get them to modify it so that kids can also get gifts for their parents.

And yes, I imagine this will involve a shopping trip with the kid, which is probably the best part of all.

If you run into roadblocks, get back to me. I have some contacts that might help.

Thanks for your support and suggestions -- I'm trying a small informal "test" of the idea, with a posse of friends, and I'll report back. Kids actually do have a generous streak...I got some of the best ideas from actual kids who benefit from toy drives.